Three members of the European Parliament have requested the European Commission to set up an expert group to report on media and state capture in Serbia.
It came as a response to the Serbian opposition’s concerns about the deteriorating political crisis in the country.
The request was signed by MEPs Tanja Fajon (S&D), Klemen Groselj (Renew Europe), and Viola Von Cramon (Greens).
They note that Serbian democracy is endangered by authoritarian tendencies of the Vucic government, unfair electoral conditions, and lack of basic media freedom and rule of law.
The MEPs aim at helping Serbia find solutions to these issues through an increased engagement of EU institutions.
“The creation and unbiased work of the senior expert group reports on state and media capture, as requested by the Serbian opposition, would help identify and assess some of the key problems currently plaguing Serbian democracy and would represent a good baseline for further engagement of EU institutions and a starting point for identifying necessary changes in Serbia,” they write.
They also called on the European Parliament to support cross-party dialogue in Serbia.
Opposition parties in Serbia boycotted parliament in February 2019, as well as June 2020 elections. They accuse President Aleksandar Vucic of state capture.
